Barbarian Kingdoms

Summary

👥 a game for 1 to 6 players
⏳ Play time is 30 – 90 minutes
🏢 Publisher is Jester Games

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Introduction

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which had lasted a thousand years, a new era of instability and opportunity began in Europe: the Middle Ages.

In the 5th century AD, the Huns swept into Europe from the East, forcing the various Germanic tribes ever westward. Hundreds of thousands of Germanic warriors crossed the frozen Rhine, bypassing the fortified defenses of the Roman Empire.

The Roman imperial army, undermined by unprecedented internal crises, failed to repel the incursions. These “Great Invasions” would lead to years of looting, displacement, and war. In an attempt to end this tumult, Rome ceded territories to barbarian warlords who founded their own kingdoms.

The loss of resources, combined with the growing autonomy of the “Barbarian Kingdoms,” sounded the death knell for the Western Roman Empire and paved the way for the next ruler of this new kingdom!

Setting up the game

Dependence on the player count, use the “Game Setups” card; each row represents a different possible game setup. The first column lists the number of players, while the icon to the left of the first row indicates setups that are beginner-friendly. The kingdom icons in each row represent the kingdoms that are part of the game setup, and the small squares serve as a reminder to place the “Domination tiles” for the kingdoms that are not in play.

Assign players’ Kingdoms randomly or by mutual agreement. For a random setup, place one control token from each Kingdom into a purse, from which each player will draw their Kingdom.

Place the purses next to the game board. Give each player bronze, silver, and gold Treasure token.

These bronze, silver, and gold tokens are the currency in this game and are called Tremis.

Place one of these tokens randomly on each of your 3 Starting Provinces including your Capital Province, face-up.

Give each player their starting Treasury, along with their matching player screen used to conceal Treasure tokens during the game, their matching player board, and matching power card.

Place your Control tokens and Warriors on your player board, and your King in your Capital Province.

Randomly place one Treasure token on each neutral Province. Note that Treasure tokens are not placed on non-player Kingdoms’ Starting Provinces or in any Province in which a Domination tile has been placed. Return all remaining Treasure tokens to the game box, face down.

Finally, each player must read aloud the special powers associated with their King and their Kingdom as listed on their player board.

This step is crucial to ensure that all players are fully aware of and understand the unique abilities in play.

Let’s get in on the table

The game has six different tribes to choose from;

– The Huns, led by Attila, were a nomadic people who originated from the region of modern-day Mongolia.

– The Ostrogoths, led by Theodoric the Great, were an East Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

– The Vandals, led by Geiseric, were a Germanic people who established a powerful kingdom in North Africa in the 5th century.

– The Visigoths, led by Alaric I, were a West Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

– The Saxons, led by Ælle of Sussex, were a Germanic people who played a major role in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England.

– The Franks, led by Clovis, were a Germanic people who, in the 5th and 6th centuries, established a powerful kingdom in what is now France.

The map is divided into 36 provinces and sea, and 3 passable straits. 

Neutral provinces: Provinces that no kingdom controls at the start of the game. 

Starting provinces: Provinces controlled by any given kingdom at the start of the game. 

Capital provinces: Provinces where kings are placed during setup. Other kingdoms may invade these provinces (to occupy them), but they may never claim (take control of) them. 

Port provinces: Provinces where it is possible to move into or out of the sea. 

Sea: This is a single area, adjacent to all port provinces. Note that there are no naval battles in this game. 

Straits: Connectors between two provinces separated by the sea. Straits do not divide the seas into separate areas.

The player who is seated closest to the star symbol near the red “Huns” emblem on the edge of the game board will be the first player. Play will proceed in clockwise order, with players taking their turns one at a time. This order will continue until the end of the game.

On their turn, a player should announce and resolve one action from the list below:
– Recruit, this action allows you to deploy one Warrior from your player board to any Province you control, for the cost shown on your player board below the Warrior you are recruiting. This cost increases as you move Warriors from your player board onto the game board.
– Maneuver, allows you to move any or all of your units on the game board to adjacent provinces or the sea, but each unit can only be moved once during this action.
– Invade, allows you to assault a province that you do not control, whether it is neutral or controlled by an opponent, with one of your units. If successful, you will occupy the invaded province, pillage it, and remove an opponent’s control over it. Opposing kingdoms may challenge the invasion.
– Claim, through this action, you may attempt to take control of a province occupied by one of your units. Additionally, opposing kingdoms may challenge your claim.
– Tax, this action allows you to collect an amount of Tremis up to the number of provinces that you control.

The Game Ends

The goal of the game is to be the first player to achieve one of the following two victory conditions:

– Territorial victory: Control a total of 7 provinces.

Or

– Military victory: Eliminate 2 opposing kings by defeating them in battle. A battle will occur under 3 circumstances:

1.            A player Invades a Province occupied by an enemy Unit
2.            A player is Challenged after Invading an unoccupied Province
3.            A player is Challenged after Claiming a Province

A battle’s victor is the player with the most total Battle Points (BP), as calculated below. Resolve ties in favor of the active player.

Assign reinforcements: Starting with the active player, both players involved in the battle may move units from adjacent areas into the battle area. A player that does not move at least one unit definitively passes; continue until both players have passed.

Once engaged in battle, a unit cannot retreat and must remain in the battle area until the conflict is resolved. In the following overview, the BP’s are determined;

+2 BP if the Province contains your Control marker 
+6 BP if the Province contains your King 
+3 BP for each of your Warriors in the Province 
+1 BP for each Tremis you pay as a bribe

The game ends as soon as any player meets one of the victory conditions; that player wins the game.

The other players may determine their placement by calculating their Kingdom Scores.

But still, they aren’t the new King; that’s you and how you play Barbarian Kingdoms!

Conclusie & eindscore

Difficulty: 2.40/ 5
Re-playability: 7
Our score: 7 out of 10 dice

Barbarian Kingdoms, well, what a very good game to start with when players are not familiar with area control games. You can do it all, like conquer provinces or try to apply some strategy before you go into battle. I truly like the way players earn the needed money to achieve their goals. This way, everybody is encouraged to go out and get the game going.

Also, the quality of the components is already good, and if you want to extend this vibe, upgrade tokens are available. The nice-looking main board is also well done. When you want to play with another character, you can finally sit in another space around the table.

Nice thing in the game, besides the historical facts, is that players can lose their kings and that the warriors can get back into the game. Also, the special abilities of the kings and tribes are well chosen and balanced. The bribe part during battles is a good way to still secure your wins. But don’t push your luck, because before you know it, that other player(s) can get back at you twice as hard 😉

Gameplay with 2 players we truly do not recommend. It’s fun, but you’ll realize that the choices you make with both of your characters will be influenced. It becomes more interesting when you play with at least 4 players. This is because all players can start at an equal distance, so no one is already under fire when you start between two warlords.

Barbarian Kingdoms is a nice and easy game to set up, which makes it accessible for all players who are interested in these types of games and want to battle in this part of our history!

We want to thank Jester for this review copy and the opportunity to write about this game